1.MORGAN STANLEY:-Morgan Stanley has increased parental leave in a major overhaul of employee benefits aimed at easing the strain on its workers, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters on Thursday, as major Wall Street banks battle for talent.
The investment bank said parents – whether through new birth, adoption, foster care or surrogacy – would be entitled to a minimum of 16 weeks of paid leave.
Employees would also get between six and eight weeks of medical leave post-pregnancy, it said in the memo.
Staff will be able to take four weeks of paid leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition, the bank said.
Morgan Stanley will increase its contribution to employees’ 401(k) retirement plans to 5% from 4% of eligible pay, unless workers receive a 2% fixed contribution or if their eligible pay exceeds $275,000.
Eligible staff will also be given the option to purchase the bank’s stock at a 10% discount.
All the changes, the details of which were first reported by Bloomberg News, would be launched throughout 2022.
Rival Goldman Sachs Group Inc also introduced a slew of benefits for its workers last month, including increasing contribution to the retirement fund for its U.S. employees.
2.BANK OF AMERICA:U.S. banks have been more proactive than other industries in encouraging employees back to the office, but those plans have come under renewed scrutiny due to the rapid spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant and many are adjusting their plans.
Most major U.S. banks have had staff working in offices since the summer, but some are now choosing not to host holiday parties and others are strongly recommending staff to get booster shots. The following are the pandemic-related rules among Wall Street’s biggest banks.
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The bank since late summer has been encouraging employees to get fully vaccinated and now to get their booster shots when eligible. It offers onsite clinics in several locations.
3.CITI GROUP:Citigroup Inc has told employees at its New York City office that they can work from home if they are able to through the holidays, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.
The bank already requires employees in the United States to be vaccinated but is not pushing for boosters, a source told Reuters earlier this week.
Separately, investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc has postponed its remaining holiday parties in New York due to COVID-19 concerns, a source familiar with the matter said.
The bank had hosted holiday parties over the last few weeks.
The rapid spread of the Omicron strain has wreaked havoc on companies’ efforts to return to normalcy, while prompting large banks in the United States and Canada to push back their back-to-office plans and impose stricter mandates.
4.ACCENTURE:Accenture stock climbed 10% Thursday after the IT consulting giant substantially raised its forecast for the year following an estimate-beating quarter.
The company now expects full-year revenue growth of 19% to 22% in local currency and profit per share of $10.46 at center of the guidance range, a big jump from the 12% to 15% revenue growth and $10.04 EPS it guided for the year in September.
The revised guidance came in after the company recorded new bookings of an unprecedented $16.8 billion, with $9.4 billion coming from consulting and $7.4 billion from outsourcing, an outcome of more clients seeking its cloud and security services in the pandemic-struck world.
The company added 50,000 people to its workforce during the quarter. North America revenue rose 26% while Europe was up 29%.
Revenue in the first quarter was around $15 billion, a gain of 27%. Adjusted profit per share was $2.78, up 20%. Operating margin rose 20 basis points to 16.3%. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage.
Accenture expects current-quarter revenue to come in between $14.30 billion and $14.75 billion.
5.AIRBUS :Airbus is set to complete a rapid-fire trio of aircraft order wins at the expense of rival Boeing on Thursday with a deal to supply all or most of a requirement for dozens of narrowbody jets to Air France-KLM, industry sources said.
Airbus has secured an order for A321 single-aisle jets from Dutch subsidiary KLM, the sources said, confirming an advantage first reported by Reuters last week, and is favoured to grab at least one of two Transavia budget units, they said.
Neither planemaker agreed to comment.
Air France-KLM, whose KLM and Transavia units currently rely on Boeing for narrowbody medium-haul jets, was not immediately available for comment.
Air France-KLM is expected to announce results of the keenly awaited contest later on Thursday, hours after Airbus seized a deal to supply two tranches of aircraft to Australia’s Qantas in a defeat for existing supplier Boeing.
Shares in Europe’s second-largest airline by fleet size extended gains and were up 3% in afternoon trading.
The Franco-Dutch group launched a tender earlier this year to renew and expand the medium-haul Boeing 737 fleet at KLM and the French and Dutch operations of Transavia.
It has said the deal could involve a firm purchase of 80 aircraft with options for another 60-80 in what would be the group’s biggest single fleet transaction.
